1.7 billion EUR in financing to back construction on a new high-speed line between Burgos and Vitoria has been approved by the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The new line, which is being built by Adif (Adif AV), will provide high-speed transport between the two Spanish cities, and is set to receive an initial tranche loan of 325 million EUR.
Linking the Madrid-Valladolid-Burgos high-speed line to the Basque Country and the French border using international track gauge, the new line’s position in Vitoria will connect with the ‘Y vaca’ high-speed line that links the three Basque capitals, which is also under construction with EIB financing.
The project also includes the installation of the Olmedo bypass, a link connecting the Madrid-Valladolid high-speed line and the high-speed line to Galicia – enabling high-speed travel across the northern half of the country.
Forming a key component of the Atlantic Corridor basic network part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T); construction on the line has now reached the Pancorbo-Ameyugo section, stretching over 93km in length.
Once complete, it is expected to carry 5.5 million passengers along the Madrid-Basque Country corridor each year.
Thus far, EIB support for high-speed railways in Spain exceeds 14 billion EUR in financing to date, with financing of the Burgos–Vitoria line coming in addition to the EIB’s financing of the Lisbon-Porto high-speed line in Portugal.
